The world has been invaded by vicious aliens who wish to eradicate humanity. After traveling around for two years, the Mason family and their comrades of the Second Massachusetts army have formed a safe haven in the city of Charleston. Together with new allies, the human race can finally stop defending themselves and go on the offense in this third season of Falling Skies.

Falling Skies season three picks up seven months after the events of season two’s finale. The spaceships that landed turned out to be the Volm, an alien race that is bend on the destruction of the Espheni. This is apparently the true name of the beings called Overlords. Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), the star of the previous seasons, is now the new president of the United States, after winning an election held in the city of Charleston. This doesn’t stop him from going on missions however, something that his secretary Marina Peralta (Gloria Reuben) disapproves of.

Joining him on these missions are his three sons, Hal (Drew Roy), Ben (Connor Jessup) and Matt (Maxim Knight). Tom also got married to doctor Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood) and the two are expecting their first child. The Volm brought new shiny weapons, and they can easily destroy the Mechs that the Espheni use. They also brought a machine that can remove the harnesses from the children that were abducted by the Espheni.

For the other people not much has changed. Hal is still in a relationship Maggie (Sarah Sanguin Carter). She’s become a stronghold of the 2nd Mass, having proven her worth on the battlefield. The fighters are still led by Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton), who continues to maintain a good relationship with the new President.

With the human faction raising in force, the Espheni elevate their efforts to destroy them. They make use of upgraded Megamechs and deploy spies in the city of Charleston. It is up to the humans and their new allies to counter these spies and to make sure that they don’t get put down.

To say more as the basic premise would possibly ruin your viewing pleasure. Similar as previous seasons, Falling Skies moves fast and has a shocking twist or mystery in just about every episode. With the added suspension of spies, the twists and turns are elevated to an all-time high. The high pace is sometimes overwhelming, but keeps the show interesting if nothing else.

The acting is pretty much the same as the previous seasons, Wyle and Patton are noticeably better than the remaining cast, but Colin Cunningham as John Pope does his best to stay with them. Pope is a pretty standard character in sci-fi, an ambiguous man who might be a bit rough around the edges, but who will pull through in though moments.

One of the biggest problems of Falling Skies are the effects. While the Volm (of which the main guy is played by costume veteran Doug Jones) look decent enough, the Mechs look terrible. It’s a shame the creators use them as much as they do, because every time they appear, the shows credibility disappear like snow before the sun. The other issue is that the same story lines are repeated quite a lot. Even before this season, how many times has Tom been separated from the group, only to return at the end of the episode like nothing happened? Having such explicit plot armor takes any tension out of his story line.

To be fair, there’s enough tension coming from the side characters. Peralta has to follow President Mason, while not fully trusting the new allies. There is also the newly introduced Dr. Roger Kadar (Robert Sean Leonard), who has trouble being around others because of a traumatic past, and Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel), who must attempt to fill doctor Glass’s shoes.

The new setting of season three, being huddled up in Charleston, makes for an interesting change. There are a lot more people who have to interact with each other and the size of the city is well established. It really shifts the focus from surviving to fighting back, which is great after two seasons where victory wasn’t really a valid option.

Conclusion

While the presentation might not be the greatest, Falling Skies still offers an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic event. It is a shame that the writers seem to be running out of ideas, with the same problems occurring to different people. Still, the high pace and abundance of cliffhangers should keep your interest till the seasons end. After that, you’ll definitely want to check out the fourth one.